I woke to a biting chill. When I stepped outside, a world of shimmering silver stretched out before me—
"Wait, this isn't the time to be quoting the opening of a masterpiece."
I was at my home, the abandoned mine located several hours north of the town of Gimul. Naturally, there was no one else here to clear the path. Looking at the ground, it seemed about five or six centimeters of snow had piled up. It wasn't quite the heavy snowfall of a place like Hokkaido, which I had visited on business trips in my past life, but it was enough to make walking a chore.
"If I don't get moving soon, I'll be late for my appointment... Since the opportunity is here, I might as well try that."
I hadn't prepared it specifically for this situation, but I realized a certain project of mine might be useful. I hurried to finish my preparations.
Thirty minutes later—
"F-For now, that's a success..."
I was picking myself up after falling over in the forest near the North Gate of Gimul.
"It's limited to places I've visited before, but this makes 'Long-distance Teleportation' much easier. I need to be careful immediately after the transfer, but the snow doesn't seem to interfere with the magic itself."
What I had just performed was a new application for the Stone Slimes and Weed Slimes I had been cultivating lately. In a sense, it was a synergy of slimes and magic, much like the Sand Slimes and Sand Magic I had developed recently.
To be specific, all I had really done was leave a Stone Slime and a supply of pebbles for its food in the forest.
In Space Magic, there was the basic-tier Teleport and the intermediate-tier Warp. There was also an advanced-tier magic called Gate, which I couldn't use yet. However, Sebas-san, a master of the discipline, had once explained that these were essentially the same magic. He said they functioned on the same principles, differing only in the distance covered and the mana consumed.
Under his guidance, I had graduated from Teleport to the intermediate Warp. Naturally, I wondered if I could master the advanced Gate as well. However, teleporting to a location I couldn't see with my own eyes was harder than I imagined.
Previously, my range was limited to a few dozen meters with Teleport, or the very edge of my vision with Warp. I had been relying too heavily on my sight; I simply couldn't teleport to a place I couldn't see. I felt like I could force it by pouring in more mana and just picking a direction, but I judged that to be suicidal. If I ended up fused inside a rock like a glitch in an old video game, I’d be dead.
Thus, I devised a method to teleport specifically to the location of a pre-placed slime. Because of the contract, a tamer can communicate with their monsters to some degree over a distance, or at least sense their direction and distance. I decided to use that sensation as a beacon.
In my mind, it felt similar to a fast-travel function on a game map. Regardless of the theory, it allowed me to bypass the long trek from the mine and cut my commute time significantly. It was a productive start to the morning.
Pleased with the result, I headed toward the North Gate. Since I had extra time thanks to the shortcut, I decided to take a detour to the laundry shop.
People were already out shoveling snow everywhere along the road. Even though it was still well before opening hours, my employees were already gathered in front of the shop.
"Good morning!" I called out.
"Good morning!" they replied in unison.
Calm looked at me with an expression of pure shock. "Store Manager? Why are you here so early?"
"The first snow fell, so I came to see how things were," I replied. "I know we discussed the procedures for snow beforehand, so I wasn't worried, but I had some time before my next appointment. I thought I'd check in on all the relevant locations."
"No, that's not what I mean. I want to know when you must have left the Northern Mine in this weather to be here at this hour."
Ah, right. If I didn't mention the Long-distance Teleportation, he would think I had left home in the middle of the night. I explained the situation again.
"I see. That's a relief. I was worried you had pushed yourself too hard again," Calm said.
"Using advanced-tier magic at your age is already the definition of pushing it too hard, Boss..." Yudam muttered. He had joined us recently and still looked bewildered by my antics. It felt nostalgic. The older employees had already grown accustomed to my behavior and didn't even blink anymore.
"Morning!"
"Hey, Ryoma!"
It was the family from next door.
"Good morning! Are you all out to clear the snow too?"
"We have to stay on top of it, or it gets dangerous," Sieg said. "Plus, it drives away the customers!"
"The kids are having a blast, but it’s a nightmare for us every year," Pauline added. Sieg the butcher and Pauline the florist stopped to look back at their children. Rick and Leni were frolicking in the fresh snow, completely unbothered by the cold.
"Brrr! Phew, it's freezing out here..." Sieg shivered.
"Ah, in that case, I have just the thing... Sunlight!"
I focused on the mental image and chanted the spell. A ball of light appeared a few meters overhead. Almost immediately, everyone bathed in its glow felt a gentle, radiating warmth. It had been a while since I'd used it, but it worked perfectly.
"Oh, that's surprisingly warm," Sieg noted.
"It’s a spell I made by combining Light and Fire attributes to mimic natural sunlight," I explained.
Standard Light magic worked like an LED; it provided illumination without heat. I had experimented with reproducing the warmth of the sun and come up with this. By itself, it felt like standing in a sunbeam on a clear day, but if I combined it with barrier magic for insulation, it could warm an entire room. It was an invaluable substitute for a heater during winters in the forest.
"I'll set a few of these up around here so you can warm up during your breaks. It’s not good for your health to stay chilled."
I actually had another spell called Halogen Heater, but that one was dangerous; it could cause burns or fires if mishandled. Sunlight was much safer.
"Oh, and I have these as well." I started handing out the handmade heat packs I’d developed. "They're still prototypes, so please, use them freely. I'd appreciate any feedback on how they work for you."
"Thank you so much!" the women chirped.
"My hands and toes are always freezing. This looks like a lifesaver," Fina said. She, Jane, and Maria—our three migrant workers—crowded around with Shelma and Li Ling to discuss the best places to tuck the packs into their clothes. The men didn't seem to care about the specifics; they just tucked them inside their tunics and looked satisfied.
"I'm working on several other prototypes, and there are still plenty of ways to apply my slime research," I told them. "If you run into any trouble with the winter weather, just let me know. Testing these things helps me out as well."
If the snow was light, I could probably use alchemy to create calcium chloride or other snow-melting agents. I’d need to consider the environmental impact of the drainage, though. Alcohol might be safer; it was a primary component in de-icers back on Earth. I could use the alcohol produced by the Drunk Slimes for that.
If it stayed above freezing, simple hot water would work. I could use fire and water magic to create a high-pressure steam blast. Or perhaps I could use Ice magic to lower the freezing point of the snow directly? Alternatively, I could freeze the snow into solid blocks and just haul them away.
I remembered that some places in Hokkaido had snow-melting systems using well water. I could probably build something like that, or modify the town's trenches to function similarly. My slimes could help with that, especially the ones that had evolved recently.
Lately, I felt like I was finally getting the hang of the conditions required for slime evolution. With my workload stabilizing and the Goblins handling the menial labor, I had much more time for research.
"Boss... You look like you're having the time of your life, but do you have the time for this?" Dolce asked. "Didn't you have other places to visit?"
"Ah!" He was right. If I was going to make my rounds, I had to move. "I'm sorry I can't stay to help. I'll take my leave now."
As I turned to go, a voice stopped me. "Master."
It was Ox, the man I’d put in charge of the shop's security. Fei was standing beside him.
"I am a man of the sword and nothing more," Ox said. "But if there is anything you need, call for me. I am your slave. I know you do not treat me as one, but I owe you my life and my blade."
"I think everyone has already told you not to overwork yourself," Fei added. "The shop will run just fine without you for a while. But we truly would be in trouble if we lost you. You are necessary to this place. If anything happens, you call us, okay?"
Behind them, all the other employees were nodding in agreement.
I had already planned to leave things in their hands, but seeing their dedication made me truly feel I could trust them with the laundry shop.
"Thank you. In that case, I'll be counting on you all as training partners and test subjects for my next prototypes."
With a final wave to my reliable staff, I headed for my next destination.
By the time I had finished checking in with the various locations around town, the sun was high in the sky. I made my way toward the Adventurer Guild.
"Phew..."
Everywhere I went—the security company, the waste processing plant, the construction sites—people went out of their way to greet me and offer words of encouragement.
I suppose a child running a successful business was always going to be a local curiosity. I was already fairly well-known among the housewives who used the laundry shop, but since returning from the Fatma Territory and starting the redevelopment projects, my fame in Gimul had reached a whole new level.
Lately, even total strangers were calling out to me. Most of them mentioned seeing me cleaning the drainage trenches. They offered thanks or worriedly asked if the delinquent adventurers I was supervising were being mean to me. It was heartwarming, honestly.
However, where the delinquents were concerned, the town’s worries were entirely misplaced.
The reason became clear as I approached the worksite.
"Good morning," I said.
The group of tough-looking men stiffened instantly.
"F-Formation!!!" someone screamed.
"Good morning! Big Bro!" they roared in a perfect, militaristic chorus.
"A-Ah... I keep telling you, I'm not your 'Big Bro'..."
Somewhere along the line, our relationship had taken a very strange turn. Looking at them standing there like loyal underlings, I couldn't help but feel like some kind of mob boss.